Apple 'preparing' to launch smaller tablet

July 5, 2012

A mother and daughter play with an Apple iPad at an Apple store in Shanghai on July 2. Apple is preparing to launch a smaller tablet computer in the coming months in a bid to maintain its edge in an increasingly crowded market, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Apple is preparing to launch a smaller tablet computer in the coming months in a bid to maintain its edge in an increasingly crowded market, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The Journal cited unnamed sources as saying that component parts manufacturers had been ordered to gear up for mass production of the tablets in September, indicating the launch may be drawing near.

It said the new tablet's screen would likely be smaller than eight inches (20 centimeters), compared to the 9.7-inch (25-centimeter) screen on Apple's market-leading iPad, launched in 2010.

The newspaper cited one source as saying that Apple was working with screen-makers LG Display of South Korea and Taiwan's AU Optronics.

Apple has dominated the market for tablet computers since the release of the iPad but faces increasing competition as Samsung, Amazon, Microsoft and Google roll out competing devices.

Samsung Electronics Co., Apple's biggest competitor in the market for iPad-sized tablet computers, is updating its line to include a feature that lets a tablet act as a universal remote control for an entertainment center.

On the theory that a driver who knows when a red light will turn green is more relaxed and aware, vehicle manufacturer Audi is unveiling this week in Las Vegas a technology that enables vehicles to "read" traffic signals ...

There you are, cruising down the freeway, listening to some tunes and enjoying the view as your autonomous car zips and swerves through traffic. Then the fun ends and it becomes time take over the wheel. How smooth is that ...

Nattydread

if this was a universe where the iPhone looked identical to what samsung put out mere months before, and apple was a company that would shrink the iPad and make it look radically different than the original iPad, then this joke would be pretty funny!

as this comment board fills with dreck and tripe, I find myself marveling at why former comments I have made that attempted to contribute constructively to a thought flow were removed with harsh criticism from the editors.

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